home

100

years

100

arts

mission

The Armenian Genocide has left an irreversible trace in our history and in our spirits and the reflection of grief, yearning, hope is woven in chain in the Armenian fine arts. When human languages is powerless to express what happened in 1915, the language of art does have the power to do so. Different generations of Armenian famous artists have continuously addressed the great iniquity and the artworks dedicated to the Armenian Genocide have always had their unique places in their art. Armenian artists greatly contributed to the global acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide thought their art. Many of these works have been exhibited to public but even more of them are unknown till today.

100 years

CULTURAL GENOCIDE

Acts and measures undertaken to destroy the culture of a nation or an ethnic group is called "cultural genocide". Many facts prove that simultaneous with the massacres and deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the government of the Young Turks masterminded and implemented systematic destruction of the material testimonies of the Armenian civilization.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

A genocide is the organized extermination of a nation aiming to put an end to their collective existence. The extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding regions during 1915-1923 is called the Armenian Genocide. Those massacres were masterminded and perpetrated by the government of Young Turks and were later finalized by the Kemalist government.

100 arts

The anguish of the Armenian Genocide, which is being reborn with every Armenian, has its own reflection in the Armenian fine arts. Many Armenian well known artists have created artworks both in Armenia and in Diaspora that are the speaking witness of the Armenian great pain, loss and yearning. These artworks are also ode to the Armenian viable genes, will power of giving birth, living and creation. Genocide is the type of crime that does have any expiration date. Human speech is sometimes powerless in expressing those things that are possible to express only through art. These 100 artworks will continuously tell the world about the unhealed wound of the Armenian, millions of innocent victims, demolished heartlands, bowed churches, lost homeland and infinite belief. The power of art is undeniable and artworks are eternal.

Artist:

Teni Vardanyan

Title:

Holy Mass, 2003

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Teni Vardanyan
Title: Holy Mass, 2003
Location: Artist's Collection

Teni Vardanyan: "This painting is dedicated to a loss of a very close person to me. I depicted the Holy Mass in the memory of this person. But the "Holy Mass" is never done only for one person, that is why I dedicated this artwork to the Armenian Genocide."

Artist:

Valentin Podpomogov

Title:

Requiem, 1981

Location:

Modern Art Museum of Yerevan

Artist: Valentin Podpomogov
Title: Requiem, 1981
Location: Modern Art Museum of Yerevan

Valentin Podpomogov, who was Armenian from his mother’s side, was deeply concerned about the Armenian Genocide in 1915. As an expression of pain and anguish he created series of canvases dedicated to the Genocide, the most actual one of which is this work: Completely demolished formerly inhabited soil, where you can see the church miraculously still standing far away.
The huge bell ripped off the church and the dust still at unease after the devastation makes us feel through the 1915 all over again. But as a shine of hope and salvation, one can see the God’s light cracked from the black sky.

Artist:

Krikor Momdjian

Title:

Open Diary, 1996

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Krikor Momdjian
Title: Open Diary, 1996
Location: Artist's Collection

Krikor Momdjian: "Like an open book, we see on one side a photo-document in which we witness how in a barbaric way Armenians were slaughtered in 1915. I did not want to paint the image but used it as it is - an horrible evidence. When I saw this picture for the first time as a little boy, I was choked that human beings are capable of such acts. History seems repeating itself as we think about what is happening now in the middle east, not far from Anatolia, where the massacres of Christian Armenians and deportations occurred. But I believe we can change this, for the sake of future generations, by education and information in healthy thinking. showing empathy for other people and cultures to create a better world."

Artist:

Carzou (Garnik Zulumian)

Title:

Scorched Land, 1978

Location:

Artist's Family Collection

Artist: Carzou (Garnik Zulumian)
Title: Scorched Land, 1978
Location: Artist's Family Collection

Shahen khachatryan (Аrt critic): "The main focus of the artist was apocalipsis and depicted the disaster of Genocide in unique style: demolished palaces, the dehumanized faces of the world, dying beauty. The artist recreated the calamity of the disaster the Armenian nation survived through his emotions."

share your arts

Here, you can upload your artwork dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The uploaded artwork will be published in the
SHARED ARTS section.
Note: the site carries no responsibility over the copyright genuinity issues in the SHARED ARTS section. But still if you come across possible violation of copyrights, please, do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected] email address.

shared arts

Artist:

Adriana Angolian